How About Story Time

A couple of questions:

Was the wave aligned so that you could use it to make great speed on course?
Would it have taken too long to climb back up to 17,500' after the start
to make it useful?

Great story by the way!

On 4/18/2020 5:12 PM, Nick Kennedy wrote:
GETTING HIGH IN PAROWAN UTAH
I had been to a couple of the Marfa spring wave camps sponsored by Dick Johnson in the early 2000's so I knew what a Shear Wave was/is. Got to 23k+ in my 1958 Ka6CR. Great fun, some good story's from those meets.

Fast forward to a few years later in a early Region 9 contest in Parowan Ut.
Flying my aSW 20 XS.
Due to a 1st day navigation error I was about last on the score sheet.
We take off on this kinda windy blue day, Top of the start is around 10k.
Well I climb up super high for no real reason, waiting for the start gate to open. I'm up over 17k in the blue, when my thermal peters out and I bump into what I recognize from Marfa is a shear wave. I want to exploit this thing so I think real quick and turn off my logger, and slowly s-turn my way up to over 22k and drift way back to the NE. Then someone comes over the radio and says " Hey isn't that a glider super high about 15 miles NE? Jeez I was spotted. I pulled my hat low over my eyes.
The start gate was going to open in about 15 minutes so I lowered my gear and flaps and opened the dive brakes and descended down to 10k to get a start.
After that, the rest of the day I felt so low.
I like getting up over 20k, the air is so nice and crisp up there.
Nick
T

--
Dan, 5J

Sorry this is so long. Many years ago I owned an open Jantar and loved it.. It had a tube plumbed thru the hull under the seat for your ****ing convenience. I hooked it up and used it for a season, but then read in Soaring that with this type of arrangement, the pee would stick to the hull, and run back into the gear well and corrode stuff. I did a thorough inspection of my gear, and sure enough, it has started to corrode. I removed it, bead blasted it, powder coated it, and put it back in. The article also said that if you attach the **** tube to the gear door it would get the offending fluid away from the glider and it would solve the problem. In addition it said to put a T in the line so that you could blow out the pee so that it wouldn't freeze in the wave flights. I installed the new system with the T and tested it out on the ground with the glider in the cradle, and it worked great. Time for the test flight. Of course I waited until I REALLY had to pee. I lowered the gear and let'er rip. Instead of the pee going out the exit tube, it came blasting out the blow tube, gushing all over me! And as you all know, it's really hard to stop peeing once you get going, so I pinched the tube, and while I was trying to stop, the catheter condom blew up like a water balloon! I stuck the blow tube out the vent window, spraying pee all down the side of the fuselage. I was puzzled as to why it worked in the test, but not now. I figured that there was some kind of temporary plug, and that maybe I could blow it clear. I wiped the tube off and blew hard on into it, which just blew the condom up like a balloon again. Frustrated, and not thinking, I pulled the tube out of my mouth, and the pressure blasted the remaining pee all over me, and right into my mouth! My initial reaction was disgust, but my second one was gee, that isn't actually that bad... Back in the barn I found that when I sat in the seat, it crushed the tube running back to the gear. I eventually switched to a 2 liter bag which is much easier because I don't have to put the gear down and can pee in crowded thermals without getting it on my competitors.

Boggs

Sorry, I think I forgot to mention in my write up a many years ago that I put a spacer between the seat pan and the belly to prevent squeezing the tube.

But I have had the water balloon experience--when I used the tube in sub-freezing conditions and it froze. Fortunately, the blockage melted because I was running out of control. That's when I added the blowout tube--with a plug on the end. A little valve would be better but I was worried I'd get it confused with my drinking water tube. If what you're saying is true (I'll take your word for it), no big deal.

Chip Bearden
JB

Chip and Gary, obviously you need to upgrade to a Mark VIII:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEJJb_ufo8A
PS: UH didn't believe it until I showed him...

My late friend, Renny Rozzoni, always carried a couple of bottles of a
sports drink when he flew.Â* After finishing one bottle, he would use it
as a pee reservoir.Â* After a certain incident, he never again carried
yellow Gator Aid, only red and blue...

On 4/19/2020 8:52 PM, wrote:
Sorry, I think I forgot to mention in my write up a many years ago that I put a spacer between the seat pan and the belly to prevent squeezing the tube.

But I have had the water balloon experience--when I used the tube in sub-freezing conditions and it froze. Fortunately, the blockage melted because I was running out of control. That's when I added the blowout tube--with a plug on the end. A little valve would be better but I was worried I'd get it confused with my drinking water tube. If what you're saying is true (I'll take your word for it), no big deal.

Chip Bearden
JB

--
Dan, 5J

Yep, I usually get "fruit punch" (sorta red) for Gatorade.....so I don't mix bottles.....BTW, earlier Gatorade had a "wide mouth" top, also a full US quart, not the new smaller capacity.....easier to "refill"....good for long road trips as well...
Quart sized+ ziplock baggies were also useful.....never tried external catheter or similar...

The nice thing about a condom and leg bag on the floor is that you hook it up ahead of time and so when it comes time to pee, there is nothing to fiddle with.

Boggs

On Monday, April 20, 2020 at 4:05:39 PM UTC-4, Waveguru wrote:
The nice thing about a condom and leg bag on the floor is that you hook it up ahead of time and so when it comes time to pee, there is nothing to fiddle with.

Boggs

So back on story track.
Some years ago we were flying in the Club Class WGC at Musbach in Germany.
It was not so nice a day, still raining, when Christian told us to grid for a 5:00 launch.
Days last late in the summer we're told.
Off we go, flying across to the Alb where we go by the entire German Open Class nationals field sitting in lawn chairs to watch the show. This was easy because we were at their height. Gradually reality happened and we all landed out not very far from each other.
I called Dianne and told her I was in Geisingen and pick me up near the church.
We got together just fine and had the Hornet in the box in quick time just as the sun was setting, now about 8:30 or so.
Pulling out of the field I mentioned to our other crew (the glider owner, Benno) that the trailer did not look right. Sure enough, we had a broken torsion bar on the axle. We're 120k from home and need to be ready to fly the next day.
Benno then called our friend Helge, who happened to be with the open guys at Klippeneck. Helge said he would see what he could do. Less than 30 minute later Helge said he had found a guy with Hornet who told him to go to his shop, put his glider in the shop, and take the trailer. Bring it back when you are done.
At a little after 10:30 we had moved out Hornet into the borrowed trailer and headed back to base. We flew the next day, 400k or so.
While I was flying, Benno got to find a new axle and fit it to his trailer.
It's amazing the generosity we see in our soaring family.
UH

On Sunday, April 19, 2020 at 8:59:57 PM UTC-4, Waveguru wrote:
Sorry this is so long. Many years ago I owned an open Jantar and loved it. It had a tube plumbed thru the hull under the seat for your ****ing convenience. I hooked it up and used it for a season, but then read in Soaring that with this type of arrangement, the pee would stick to the hull, and run back into the gear well and corrode stuff. I did a thorough inspection of my gear, and sure enough, it has started to corrode. I removed it, bead blasted it, powder coated it, and put it back in. The article also said that if you attach the **** tube to the gear door it would get the offending fluid away from the glider and it would solve the problem. In addition it said to put a T in the line so that you could blow out the pee so that it wouldn't freeze in the wave flights. I installed the new system with the T and tested it out on the ground with the glider in the cradle, and it worked great. Time for the test flight. Of course I waited until I REALLY had to pee. I lowered the gear and let'er rip. Instead of the pee going out the exit tube, it came blasting out the blow tube, gushing all over me! And as you all know, it's really hard to stop peeing once you get going, so I pinched the tube, and while I was trying to stop, the catheter condom blew up like a water balloon! I stuck the blow tube out the vent window, spraying pee all down the side of the fuselage. I was puzzled as to why it worked in the test, but not now. I figured that there was some kind of temporary plug, and that maybe I could blow it clear. I wiped the tube off and blew hard on into it, which just blew the condom up like a balloon again. Frustrated, and not thinking, I pulled the tube out of my mouth, and the pressure blasted the remaining pee all over me, and right into my mouth! My initial reaction was disgust, but my second one was gee, that isn't actually that bad... Back in the barn I found that when I sat in the seat, it crushed the tube running back to the gear. I eventually switched to a 2 liter bag which is much easier because I don't have to put the gear down and can pee in crowded thermals without getting it on my competitors.

Boggs

Where do you put the 2-litre bag--behind your seat?

Curious for myself.
Ian IN

most of the guys who use the bag, lay it beside there leg or strap it to there calf.